Otis Vandagriff, 75

Otis D. Vandagriff, 75, died Sept. 8, 2004, following a lengthy battle with cancer.

Visitation was held at Rost Funeral Home, 240 N. 4th East St. in Mountain Home, on Sept. 12. Funeral services were held at the First Southern Baptist Church on Monday, Sept. 13, with burial at Mountain Home Cemetery.

Vandagriff was born Oct. 30, 1928, in Elmont, Texas.

He joined the United States Air Force in 1946.

He married Alvaree Hart in 1950 and raised five children.

In 1969, following a 22-year career in the Air Force, he and his family retired in Mountain Home, where he had been stationed at the airbase earlier, in 1958.

Over the next 35 years he worked at various jobs that included a second career as a corrections officer with the Idaho State Penitentiary.

Vandagriff was an avid fisherman, who "never lacked enthusiasm for getting out on Idaho waters and spending the day fishing," his family said. "Although he could be very secretive about his favorite fishing holes, Dad took many friends and neighbors on trips, sharing his passion for fishing.

"When not fishing, he poured a great deal of time and sweat into his yard and garden which he took great pride in.

"He was a proud man and an even prouder grandpa, boasting over his many grandkids."

Vandagriff is survived by: two brothers, Jack Vandagriff and Bill Vandagriff; two sisters, Etta Casper and Helen Rollins; his five children, Vivian Miller of Palmer, Alaska, Diane Venski of Mountain Home, Steven Vandagriff of Anchorage, Alaska, Laura Sherwood of Sweet Home, Ore., and Joan Odle of Springfield, Ore.; 19 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Alvaree, both parents, two brothers and one sister.

Memorial contributions may be made to Mountain States Tumor Institute, 151 E. Bannock, Boise, Idaho 83702.